Video From Buras, Louisiana

When I was going through some of my files I found this video and wanted to share it with some of you that have not heard of what we are doing. Here is one of the trips we made down in Buras, Louisiana. You can see and hear what other folks have to say about being a part of the Feel Good Tour. Thanks.

To view the video, click here.

Still Pickin’

Bill Hudson

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

Making happy faces

Thank you New York!

The Photo above is of one of the schools we have adopted and the kids with their instruments that have been donated.


While I have been in here in New York we have collected:
4 Guitars
1 Electric bass
1 clarinet
4 thumb pianos
1 large conga
1 small drum
1 toy guitar
1 tambourine
While I have been here the in New York folks have been very kind and very giving. I am hoping to return some time and all of us from The Feel Good Tour want to thank each and everyone. We always say it one to one from the all the folks giving and the kid’s receiving.

Still Pickin’

Bill Hudson
http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

Thank You Paul!

So while I have been here in New York I have been going to open mikes around the Hudson Valley to get the word out in trying to get more instruments for the kids. I do a few songs and talk about what we are doing down in the Gulf Coast.
At one open mike in Beacon, New York at the Highland center I did just that. It was a small affair held in a hall that is used for concerts and holds some blown up B&W photos on the walls of yesterday. It uses to be a library and it has a walkway that goes around the whole room with beautiful woodwork all around. Beacon use to be a real factory town with now many old building that is still standing. The whole town has gone through a transition in the last few years. Many of the building are now rebuilt and Beacon looks like it has a fresh new paint on it.
So Paul was the host and after I did my set he came up to me and said,” I think I have a guitar or two. Can you meet me at my gig tomorrow?” I said, “Sure I’d love too.” So the next day I showed up at a Irish bar where he was playing. Sat down and gave a listen to Paul’s set. After his set he showed me his guitars that he wanted to give to us. We talked for a while and Paul had to get back to work. I thanked him again and told him I would stop by when I would be in town .Still Pickin'
Bill Hudson
http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

More Instruments from Kingston,NY

While I have been here in New York I tried to get the word around with what we are doing down in the Gulf Coast as much as possible. Once a month, the 1st Friday of the month the Beacon Sloop Cub,http://www.beaconsloop.org/ has a meeting/pot luck/ music jam. Its fun to see other folks I have not seen in a while. They come from all over the place and it would be a good time to make an announcement about The Feel Good Tour.
What seems like longer then 30 years ago I was apart of the Beacon Sloop club,http://www.beaconsloop.org/. At the time the city let us use an old dinner and turn it into our club house. Now you may be asking what the Beacon Sloop Club is. Well, it is an organization to help clean up the Hudson River in their own back yard. They are apart of a larger organization, the Clearwater, /www.clearwater.org/ While I have been here in New York I tried to get the word around with what we are doing down in the Gulf Coast as much as possible. Once a month, the 1st Friday of the month the Beacon Sloop Cub has a meeting/pot luck/ music jam. Its fun to see other folks I have not seen in a while. They come from all over the place and it would be a good time to make an announcement about The Feel Good Tour.


.Pete Seeger introduced me to what they were doing way back. An idea was simple, but tons of work in trying to clean up the river so we can all swim and eat fish out of it, not a bad idea.
So, everyone gets to make an announcement and I did just that, let everyone know if they have a instrument I would gladly go to their home and pick them up. The music jam sometimes gets to be pretty late and after 11PM we were all packing up our instruments heading to our cars. One young man came up to me who name was Kevin and told me, “I think I have a few instruments, would you like them?” I said, “Sure that would be great”. And he told me to call him when I could come up to Kingston,NY.
So the next week I did just that and he told me he would meet me at a as station near the highway. The picture above is Kevin at that gas station.
Another person helping the kids down in the Gulf Coast.
Still Pickin'
Bill Hudson
http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

Thank You David Amram

I have been doing more gigs and radio interviews in the New York area again, including playing again at the Putnam County 4-H Fair. It’s a lot of fun. There are two days of great acts, tons of stuff for the kids to do and amazing exhibits. It was at this festival, a few years back, that I met an incredible musician named David Amram.

David can play most any instrument. To watch him is a great treat and I don’t know how he does it, but right in the middle of a song he can change instruments and not miss a beat. He makes it look easy. At the same time David has a fun and has a very playful way about him. He’s also written a book called, “Offbeat- Collaborating with Jack Kerouac.”

Each year, when I see David at the Putnam County 4-H Fair, he is very friendly and always says, “Hey pops.” We talk about music and pretty soon we have to go our own ways. But this year he invited me over to his home so he could give some instruments for the kids in the Gulf Coast. He gave me his card and told me to call him. The following week I gave him a call and we set a date. I invited John Dentato, my music publisher, to come along. John had been with MGM Records and John and David would know some of the same people.

It was raining very hard that day, as it has been all summer, here in the Hudson Valley. I picked John up at the train station and off we went to look for David’s farm.

We finally find the place, a nice small farm by a small stream. David greets us with a big smile and says, “Hi pops.” I introduce John to David and they go over a litany of folks that they both have run across over the years, mostly jazz folks. We sit down in his living room and somehow, four hours seems to just float away. When musicians get together this sometimes happens. Well after a while David says, “Let me see what I have.” He then proceeds towards his basement door and goes downstairs. I hear all this noise and hear David’s voice. Wanting to help out I walk down the stairs and David hands me a few of what looks like Africa drums and thumb pianos plus a electric bass and a small guitar. Not wanting to take any more of David’s time John and I shake David’s hand and thank him for the time and instruments. As we drive away we wave to him and in the back of my mind I am thinking I hope I can stay as open as David has been through the years as he keeps on making greater, fresh new music.

Still Pickin’

Bill Hudson

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

The Reason Why

It has been at about a year since we have posted here on this blog. The reasons are many, but mostly because of the economy. In these days we are all trying to pay bills and keep a roof over our heads. We are not a big organization and we have always tried to do much with very little.

For us to make a run down to the Gulf coast, give or take, runs about $800-$1,000. That being said, we have not been able to raise enough funds. But at the same time, it keeps coming back to me the faces of the kids and the teachers in the schools we are trying to help, so we go on.

So, we have been still collecting musical instruments one by one and it has been adding up. I keep telling the stories of what we have been doing in the Gulf Coast at my gigs and someone comes up and tells me they have a flute or an old guitar in their closet. We always talk a bit and then they give me their address and when the time is good for them I drive to their home. It always seems to be a very personal. Sometimes the folks tell me the instrument was their sons or daughters and they have moved on... leaving their instruments behind. And, for a time it was just sitting there all alone in the closet with the other things until we come knocking at the door.

We are keeping the faith in-between times and looking forward to the fall trip we hope to make.

Here is hoping all out there are having a safe and fun filled Summer and keeping the music alive in your hearts.

Still Pickin'

Bill Hudson

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi

THANK YOU-RADOVICH & DEAN MUSIC!

It’s been about a week sense I have been up in the New York Sate area. I did have a gig to do at the Putnam County 4-H fair when I first arrived and as always I tell folks in the audience what we are sill doing down in the Gulf Coast. One never knows who is out there and one never knows what it might bring in as far as musical instruments. While I was at the festival I saw a friend who I met the year earlier, Paul who gave us an accordion. And Paul introduces me to David Radovich and his wife who owns a music store www.radovichandean.com in Carmel, New York. They told they have some instruments they would like to donate. As always at festivals things get busy so I shake their hands and got their cards and told them I would call them in a day or so.

First thing Monday I call Dave and ask him when the best time to come by. Its gonna be a busy week so we finally agree to meet on Wednesday. Well Wednesday rolls around and I find the best way to find the best way to get to Carmel,NY. The county around here is still rural and there are always back road and short cuts to get to places. Well I call Dave and ask him what the best time to meet. He tells me to meet at this barn where they keep their instruments. After about an Hour or so I find Carmel at the barn and call Dave and tell him I think I am at the right place. Very soon Dave shows up and we shake hands and talk a little and he opens up the barn and looks around. What I see is a barn full of instruments cases. Dave looks it over and says,”Well this will do, and yes, this will do.” And after a while I am pilling up a pile of instruments in the car and it keeps going. I tell him, “Dave I don’t think I can fit in any more.” So I drive over to the music store and thank his wife and their assistance, Eric.

After I get back to my girlfriends home, Sue Altkin who has been on a trip with us to the Gulf Coast she looks at the pile of instruments and goes, “wow, what a pile” Well after a while we make a count and it comes to 21 instruments!

This is going to make a few schools happy and we all of The Feel Good Tour want to thank Radovich and Dean Music for their kind donation.

Still Pickin'

Bill Hudson

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi